Vulcanizer



G. P. BOSOMWORTH April 29, 1941.

VULCANIZER Filed July 13, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 6 50 wwmnv ATTORNEYS April 1941- G. P. BOSOMWORTH 2,240,010

VULCANIZER Filed July 13, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR GEOWE P. BQSOMWORTH ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 29, lgil PATENT 2,2diidii0 JULCANKZER Application July 13, 1938, Serial No. 218,938

6 Claims.

This invention relates to vulcanizers of the watchcase type such as are used in the manufacture of tire casings, inner tubes and the like, and more especially it relates to safety mechanism for vulcanizers of the character mentioned that comprise covers requiring to be raised and lowered to effect opening and closing of the vuloanizer.

The chief objects of the invention are to provide means for definitely preventing the lowering of .the vulcanizer cover under all conditions except when it is intentionally lowered; to provide safety means of the character mentioned, that is of simple construction, and which operates automatically; and to provide a construction that requires no overhead structures, thus rendering the vulcanizer more accessible for the changing of the mold sections that are mounted therein. Other objects will be manifest as the specification proceeds.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vulcanizer embodying the invention, in open position with cover raised, a part being broken away for clearness of illustration;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation thereof in closed position with the cover lowered;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the structure shown in Figure 2, the cover being lowered and parts being broken away and in section.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a vulcanizer comprising a stationary concavo-convex section it and a similarly shaped movable section or cover H, said sections being arranged to part on a horizontal plane, the cover section III being uppermost. The stationary section it) is positioned relatively close to the floor, being mounted upon a pair of transversely extending channel shaped members l2, 2. The marginal portion of section I I], which is at the top thereof, is circumscribed by an annular locking ring It that rests upon brackets l5, it carried by the vulcanizer section. The locking ring is formed with the usual inwardly extending bayonet lugs Ma, Ma that co-operate with the bayonet lugs l 5, IS on the lower marginal portion of the cover i l for locking the vulcanizer in the closed or operative condition thereof shown in Figure 2.

For moving the locking ring angularly, the usual rack ll is mounted upon stationary section Iii, which rack is meshed with a gear segment l8 pivotally carried by the locking ring, said segment being provided with an operating lever it for manual operation thereof. Removably mounted within the vulcanizer sections it, I l are the respective mating sections of a two part cavity mold (not shown) within which work is vulcanized. Means also iswprovided for conducting vulcanizing fluid, such as steam, to the vulcanizer, but since these features constitute no part of the invention, the illustration and description thereof are believed not to be necessary.

At each side of the vulcanizer, rearwardly of the middle thereof, are upstanding fabricated ralne members or standards, such as the standard 2i, there being a cross member consisting of an inverted channel 22 that; is supported from its respective ends at the top of standards 2|. In the upper part of each standard 2i is located a bearing structure 23, in which bearing structure is journaled a heavy shaft 24. Secured to shaft 24 adjacent the respective ends thereof are lever arms 25 that extend forwardly therefrom and have their free ends pivotally connected at 26 to the vulcanizer cover H, the pivots 26 being disposed at diametrically opposite points of said cover. The lever arms 25 are swingable so as to move the cover it between the closed position shown in Figure 2 of the drawings and the open position shown in Figure 1 thereof, the shaft E l being so positioned that its axis is slightly above the axis of the pivots 26 when the cover it is in the closed position, as indicated in broken lines in Figure 1. Since the cover H is pivotally mounted in the ends of lever arms 25, it will be apparent that the cover will be in parallelism with the stationary section it! during its initial movement of separation therefrom, and during the final phase of its closing movement therewith. Furthermore, because of the angular position of the lever arms 25, the cover will vary but slightly from axial alignment with the vulcanizer section It during said initial opening and final closing movement. The arrangement is such as to avoid the pinching or displace-ment of the work in the vulcanizer during the closing thereof.

For raising and lowering the lever arms 25 to open and close the vulcanizer, a pair of double acting fluid pressure cylinders 28 are provided. The cylinders 28 are positioned at each side of the vulcanizer, substantially in vertical position, and each is pivoted at 29, near its upper end, in the stationary vulcanizer section It and a portion of the standard 2i that is positioned laterally of said section. The respective piston rods 39 of the cylinders 23 have their outer ends provided with respective clevises 35a that are pivotally connected at 3| to the lever arms adjacent the forward or outer ends of the latter, said lever arms thus constituting levers of the third class. The length of the cylinders 28 is such that shallow pits 32 are required to receive the lower ends thereof. Flexible inlet and out let pipes 33, 34 communicate with the upper and lower ends respectively of the cylinders 28, said pipes extending to a four-way operating valve 35 mounted upon one of the standards 2|. Said valve has connection with a source of pressure fluid (not shown) through pipe 38, and also includes an exhaust pipe 31. Valve 35 is manually operated by means of a hand lever 38 that is mounted upon one end of a suitably j ournaled rock shaft 39, outside the standard 21, the angular movement of said lever 38 being limited by a pair of stop plates 40, 43 mounted upon said standard. Upon the other end of rock shaft 39 is mounted a bell crank 4|, one arm of which extends upwardly and is connected by a link 42 to the end of the operating lever 43 of the valve 35, the link 42 being formed with a slot 44 so as to have lost motion connection with said valve 1ever43. When hand lever 38 is in the position shown in full lines in Figure l, the valve 35 admits fluid to the lower ends of cylinders 28 and discharges fluid from the upper ends thereof, whereby the cover H is maintained in the elevated position shown. Conditions are reversed when lever 38 is in the position shown in broken lines in said figure.

The vulcanizer comprises safety mechanism that automatically moves into operative position, when the cover rises to its elevated position, to prevent descent of the cover in case of failure of the fluid pressure supply to the cylinders 2-8, said safety mechanism being automatically moved to inoperative position, to enable descent of the vulcanizer cover, when the lever 38 is thrown to operate valve 35. Said safety mechanism comprises struts 46 that are positionable between the upper heads of the cylinders 28 and the clevises 36a on the outer ends of the piston rods of said cylinders, when said piston rods are in fully projected position. Each of the struts 46 is an elongated metal channel that is U-shape in section, the upper end of the strut being provided with a hinge-bracket 47 that comprises slotted ears that embrace the clevis 30a, and are pivotally connected to said clevis by hinge pins 48 extending through said slots. The said hinge pins are so arranged that the strutmay be oscillated thereabout in a fore and aft direction. In Figure 1 the operative position of the strut on the near side of the vulcanizer is shown in full lines, the inoperative position, which it assumes when the vulcanizer is closed, being indicated in broken lines. In the latter position the strut rests upon a slide or chute 49, the upper end of which is pivotally connected at 50 to the upper head of cylinder 28, the lower end portion of the chute resting upon a small roller 5| that is suitably journaled upon the foremost end of standard it. Thus the chute readily may change its position as the cylinder 28 oscillates on its pivot 29 during operation.

When the strut 43 is in the operative, full line position shown in Figure 1, it positively prevents retraction of the piston 38 of cylinder 23, so that it is necessary that the strut be moved to an alternative position before the valve 35 is operated to cause the cylinder 28 to lower the cover II. To this end means is provided for swinging the strut on its pivot pins 48 so that its lower, free end is out of alignment with the upper head of said cylinder. This is accomplished by means of a push rod 53 that is slidably supported in a bracket 54 carried by thestandard 2|, one end of said push rod being connected to the same arm of ball crank 4| that is connected to link 42. The other end portion of push rod 53 is bent at right angles, as shown at 53a, said bent portion being adapted to engage a pin or stud 55 that projects laterally from the lower end portion or strut 45, when said strut is in operative position. The arrangement is such that when the hand lever 33 is moved forwardly, to operate the valve 35 so as to effect the closing of the vulcanizer, the push rod 53 will engage stud 55 of the strut 5 and swing the latter on its pivot 48 until its lower end is over the chute 49, this operation being completely elfected before the valve 35 is operated because of the lost motion connection between the link 42 and the valve-lever 33.

t will be understood that the far side of the vulcanizer is provided with a safety strut identical with that shown in Figure 1, and that said strut is pushed to inoperative position by a push rod that is connected to a bell-crank in the identical manner described. t is necessary, however, to provide means for operating the push rod on the far side of the vulcanizer concurrently with the operation of the push rod on the near side thereof, and to this end the other arm of bell-crank M has one end of a link 51 pivotally connected thereto, said link extending downwardly from the bell-crank and having its lower end pivotal- 1y connected to the free end of a rocker arm 58 carried by a rock shaft 59. The latter is suitably journaled in bearing brackets carried by the standards 2!, and extends beneath the stationary section I0, from one side of the vulcanizer to the other. On the far side of the vulcanizer the rock shaft 59 carries a rocker arm identical with rocker arm 58, and said rocker arm is connected by a link, similar to link 57, with the bell crank aforementioned that is located on the far side of the vulcanizer. The arrangement is such that operation of the operating lever 38 of valve 35 will operate both push rods 53 concurrently in timed relation to the operation of said valve.

As previously stated, the vulcanizer cover I I is in parallelism with the stationary section 10 during the initial phase of its rising or opening movement. It is desirable, however, that in fully open position the cover should be tilted so as to be more accessible for the cleaning of the mold section therein. To this end a pair of spaced apart abutment members, such as the member 6!, are mounted upon the top of cross-member 22 of the standards 2 l, in overhanging relation to the front margin thereof. Said abutment members project into the path of a pair of pintle pins, such as the pin 62, that are mounted in horizontal position upon the upper rear portion of the cover it. Engagement of the pintle pins 52 with the abutment-s Eli prevents further rise of the cover at the rear thereof, and causes the cover to tilt about the pins 62 as a pivot or hinge so that when tl e lever arms 25 are fully raised the cover is in the angular position shown in full lines in Figure 1.

The top of the cover H, at the front thereof, is provided with an eye 6 1 by means of which the cover may be engaged by a hook 65 on a cable 65 from an overhead pulley block (not shown), the latter being so positioned as to exert a rearward pull on the cover. The pulley block is utilized when it is desired to change a mold section within the cover ii. By lowering the arms 25 in the manner previously described while the front of the cover is drawn rearwardly by the cable 65, the cover is caused to swivel about pivot points 3!, and is easily lowered, in inverted position, upon the stationary vulcanizer section iii. The mold section within the cover it is readily removed or replaced while the cover is in this position.

The feature of having the ears of the hingebraclzets i'i slotted to receive the hinge pins 48, provides a modicum of lost motion between the struts it and the piston rods 36 of the cylinders 28. Thus in case the arms 25 should start to descend due to failure of pressure in the cylinders 28, the lower end of struts 46 almost immediately would strike the upper heads of cylinders I 28, and then the DiSJOIl rods 30 of the cylinders would move relatively of the struts until the nuts on the under side of the clevises 39a strike the upper ends of the respective struts, the relative movement between clevises and struts being made possible by the lost motion connections aforesaid. The arrangement is such that the pivot pins 58 are never subject to greater strain than the weight of the struts. Furthermore, strain imposed upon the struts always is a compressive stress that is imposed longitudinally of the struts, whereby they are enabled to withstand extremely heavy strains without flexing or buckling. The transverse shape of the struts also is a factor giving them great strength without cumbersome mass.

The vulcanizer is small and compact, it is free from mechanism above the cover, it is safe to operate, and it achieves the other objects set out in the foregoing statement of objects.

Modification may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A vulcanizer of the character described, comprising a removable cover, means for raising and lowering the same, said means comprising a fluid pressure cylinder having a reciprocable piston rod that is projected outwardly to raise said cover, and a strut pivotally connected to the piston rod near the outer end thereof and automatically positionable against the piston rod with its lower end in juxtaposition to the adjacent cylinder head, when the piston rod is in projected position, whereby retraction of the piston rod is prevented upon failure of the fluid pressure.

2. A vulcanizer of the character described, comprising a removable cover, means for raising and lowering the same, said means comprising a double-acting fluid pressure cylinder having a reciprocable piston rod that is projected outwardly to raise said cover, a Valve controlling the admission of pressure fluid to said cylinder, a strut pivotally connected to the piston rod near the outer end thereof and automatically positionable against the piston rod with its lower end in juxtaposition to the adjacent cylinder head, when the piston rod is in projected position, whereby retraction of the piston rod is prevented upon failure of the fluid pressure, and means for swinging the lower end of the strut away from said cylinder head in timed relation to the operation of the valve in the direction that efiects the retraction of the piston rod to lower the cover, said means comprising a hand operated lever that has lost motion connection with the cylinderoperating valve.

3. A vulcanizer of the character described, comprising a removable cover, means for raising and lowering the same, said means comprising a vertically disposed double acting fluid pressure cylinder having a reciprocable piston rod that is projected upwardly to raise said cover, a safety device consisting of a strut that is pivotally connected to the outer end of said piston rod and automatically positionable beside the piston rod in the projected position of the latter, and a chute extending obliquely downwardly from the upper end of the cylinder for receiving the strut in the retracted position of the piston rod.

4. A combination as defined in claim 3 in which the fluid pressure cylinder is pivotally mounted, and the chute is loosely supported so as to move with the cylinder as the latter tilts on its pivot.

5. A vulcanizer of the character described, comprising a removable cover, means for raising and lowering the same, said means comprising a double acting fluid pressure cylinder having a reciprocable piston rod that is projected outwardly to raise said cover, and a strut pivotally connected to the piston rod near the outer end thereof and automatically positionable against the piston rod, between a structure on the end of the piston rod and the cylinder head through which the piston rod extends, when the piston rod is in projected position, there being lost motion in the pivotal connection between strut and piston rod to relieve said connection of strain should the piston rod start retractive movement due to failure of the pressure in the cylinder.

6. A vulcanizer of the character described comprising a removable cover, means for raising and lowering said cover, a strut automatically movable to an operative position between a movable structure connected with the cover and a fixed abutment on the vulcanizer, as the cover is raised, so as to be placed under longitudinally directed compressive stress in the event of failure of the cover-elevating means, and means for moving the strut to an inoperative position upon normal operation of the cover raising and lowering means to lower said cover.

GEORGE P. BOSOMWORTH. 

